Norton calls for financial literacy programmes, development of local stock exchange market

Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton has called for the rollout of comprehensive financial literacy programmes and the development of the local stock exchange market.
He made the calls during his contribution to the 2024 Budget Debate on Friday.
“We believe that our country needs to democratise finance. That means increasing access to banking across Guyana, improving financial literacy and developing our local stock market,” Norton, also the Leader of the Peoples National Congress (PNC), expressed.

He contended that industries in the hinterland regions make significant contributions to the nonoil economy, however, most banking requires such businesspersons to travel to the coast to conduct transactions.
“This not only discourages saving, but it also hinders those local economies that could benefit from the access to credit which can only materialise if there are savings institutions,” he explained.
He noted that these should be complemented by mobile money and online banking services.
“To facilitate such development, we can offer investment concessions to banks which open branches in hinterland regions, and these tax concessions will quickly pay for themselves in the form of increased growth and tax revenue across these regions,” Norton said.
The Opposition Leader also spoke about the lack of access to the local stock exchange market.
“The few brokers that allow citizens to purchase stocks are concentrated in Georgetown, and they are hindered by a stock market that only trades once a week,” he noted.
“These brokers should similarly benefit from tax concessions for establishing more branches across Guyana, but also be encouraged to develop financial products that serve the investing needs of average Guyanese.”
It is against this backdrop that the Opposition Leader emphasised the need for financial literacy programmes.
“Citizens must also be educated about the benefits of investing, planning ahead for expected life expenses, and the general advantages of making use of the financial system. This must be introduced at the high school level but also at the University of Guyana, and other higher learning institutions, through a deliberate government outreach programme,” he said.
He expressed that, “the US Federal Reserve highlights that 58 per cent of Americans own stock, often through varied financial products, whereas sadly many Guyanese are not even aware that Guyana has a stock exchange.”
Meanwhile, the Opposition Leader also called for there to be more emphasis placed on conducting analysis and data gathering.
“…we need to see a renewed focus on gathering data and conducting analysis. There is a saying that you cannot manage what you cannot measure…”
Moreover, Norton also spoke about the Guyana/Venezuela border controversy and urged that a strategy be developed to engage persons in communities bordering Venezuela, so that “they are engaged, conscious, secured, trained, and committed to ensuring Essequibo continues to be a part of Guyana.”
“We cannot just hope, we must use the resources of this country to achieve those noble objectives. Merely saying ‘Guyana is our own’ will not allow us to achieve those objectives. We need a plan to ensure that Essequibo continues to be we own,” he posited.